This is the reason why no one on the Red Fish should have hobbies outside of punching people...

[blindoptimism]

Who: The motley crew of the SS Redfish
Broadcast: None
Action: Boarding area of the Red Fish
When: Backdated to Part 1 of the June Bug plot

[On tonight's episode, Coil and Zhas return to the Red Fish with a squirmy live bug in tow. Coil intends to perform untold experiments on the living specimen. But it seems like trouble is brewing on the once peaceful ship... Will the other crew members be okay with these morally questionable experiments taking place on board? Tune in tonight to find out!]

Comments

[child_of_bhaal]

[Oh. Well. She wasn't expecting that. To be fair, she didn't know what to expect, but asking to brush her hair would not have even made the list.

But she doesn't think it's stupid. So she smiles gently at his obvious chagrin, nods.]

[theboogieman]

[he was very ready to voice that it was stupid and that she should forget he said anything. especially under the wrong "face", he's painfully aware that it was a strange thing to suggest. but he... doesn't get an odd look for it, and she... agrees to it? so his shoulders drop a little in silent relief, and something about his demeanor eases up immediately.

what a comforting answer. he's exhausted and troubled, but this'll be nice.

he holds up a quick finger (one minute) as he stalks off to the washrooms. he'll be back in a second.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[It's not weird, really. Everyone has their comforts, and this is hardly a strange one. She used to brush Imoen's hair, when they were little. It was mostly a practical thing, but it was a soothing practice. Unlike when Gorion would try to brush out her hair, which she believes almost certainly built up her tolerance for pain. That man always started at the top. Needless to say, she'd learned to do her own grooming fairly fast.

So she waits, because he asks. In his way of not asking anything ever. Because Zhas is apparently allergic to question marks. It gives her time to take their dishes and clean them. Which takes her all of no time, but it's something to do other than sit and watch the door.]

[theboogieman]

[and lucky for her, Zhas is not going to notice the insufficient way that she cleans them for now. he appears again with a comb (he thought that a brush might be better, but he doesn't own one, and he didn't want to dig through the ladies' things to find one--so this will do for now) and is already waving at her to take a seat again in her chair once he's in the room.

"excited" is not a word you can ever really use to describe Zhas, and he isn't smiling or anything that would normally indicate happiness... but his movements at least seem a little more awake. he looks alert as he waits for her to sit.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[A brush would be fine if he wanted to make her hair puff out like a staticy poodle. So it's probably good that he only found a comb. Brushing only worked if her hair was damp. There's a lot of interesting perks to being a godchild. Perfect hair is not one of them sadly.

She sits, pushes her hair behind her shoulders for him. And she realizes suddenly she's a little... nervous? Giddy, maybe? No one's ever done this for her, not for this reason.]

[theboogieman]

[he still remembers the first time that Saoirse asked him to brush her hair for her. he was still very small, standing awkwardly to the side during some meeting... she called him over, said she was too tired to do it herself, and handed him a brush.

it was a frightening task, at first, but it gave him something to do. it helped him focus instead of anxiously fidgeting at nothing. it also let him hide behind her, rather than stand out in the open. she made him do a lot of things--pick out her clothes, paint her nails, feed her stupid, ghouled pet tiger--but brushing her hair was always tied back to those early memories. even on her worst days, where she'd scream and claw at him while he tried to take care of her, she'd settle down once he started sorting out her tangled mess of hair.

with Syeira, he starts at the bottom. goes in little handfuls. it feels different than Saoirse's, and she obviously takes better care of her hair... but the color is the same. it falls about the same, almost the same length. and he doubts he'll find matted blood clumps anywhere, which makes this a perfectly acceptable trade-off.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[She certainly takes better care of it now. Once she'd been given that special hair soap, she's been extremely attentive to her hair care. It's softer now than when she would scrub it with lye soap. Felt cleaner, and certainly smelled nicer. And it didn't fluff up nearly so much anymore, actually looking less like an angry cloud and more like actual curls. She's not sure how she'll cope when she goes home and won't have the luxury anymore.

And this is very soothing. It's not long at all before her posture goes from upright, perfectly straight, to shoulders easing down and her head falling a little forward.]

[theboogieman]

[he stays very quiet, but it is at least a peaceful sort of silence. he's good at not tugging, being careful around the couple of knots he can find. he keeps his touching polite and minimal. he wonders if she'll be tired enough to sleep, after this.

it's a very nice thought to have. he doesn't know why, nor would he ever bother wondering... but he's conditioned to take care of people. this fulfills a something in him that isn't quite met with his usual mothering.

he takes a couple of long passes at the end, satisfied with how the comb slides from scalp to ends without a single snag... and steps away.]

Done.

[child_of_bhaal]

[It feels like heaven. Her eyes close to just sink into it. It's such a gentle kind of pleasure, the slide of the comb over her scalp, the so subtle pull along hey hair, that she doesn't even notice when she makes the smallest hum of contentment. And when he speaks, she almost feels like she has to wake herself up to register the faint sense of loss.

She may have to ask for him to do this again sometime. It's quite possible she's hooked.

She turns in the chair and looks up at him with a languid smile.]

Thank you. No one's ever done that for me before.

[theboogieman]

[never? ...he supposes that not all girls are as demanding as his master. he shrugs a little for being thanked.]

Used to. Sometimes.

[...comb someone's hair, he means. not that he gave great context.]

[child_of_bhaal]

Well, if you ever feel like it again, I wouldn't mind. This was very nice.

[All of it. Things were set straight, they'd had an extremely late supper, and her hair probably had never looked so good in her life.]